Reading Week in Arizona!!

So for reading week I went to Arizona with the C3 team to spend the week training in warm weather. While the weather wasn’t quite what I would define as ‘warm’ it was pleasant most days and the training was phenomenal. It is unfortunate that I was unable to do much running, however I am quickly becoming a professional power-walker so was able to take in the sights that way. The swimming was done in one of two outdoor pools throughout the week, both of which were beautiful. One was 50yards across with about 15-20 lanes and 25 yards long (which was different for most people there, but since UW is old we have a yards pool so that’s what I was used to). The other pool was at a luxury gym place on a golf course- free towel use, free soap, shampoo, conditioner, lotion, sunscreen, razors, and of course tampons. 

We were in Oro Valley, which is about 20 miles north of Tucson, and the bike lanes were fabulous. On most roads the bike lanes are wide enough to ride two abreast and the roads are well paved, not to mention that pretty much every road has bike lanes. Canada should take note. We did some particularly memorable rides including the infamous Mt. Lemmon climb as well as the ride out to Gate’s Pass.  Mt. Lemmon was pretty chilly and my toes had gone completely numb by the time I got to the top (which is just over 8000ft elevation). It was definitely worth it for the overly-large cookies at the top (and of course the sense of accomplishment for riding up a mountain for 3 hours). Coming down was exhilarating!! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! I averaged close to 50km/hr on the way down. Gates Pass was scenic, although I could have done without the extreme bumpiness! We did this ride on my last day in Arizona so I got a good sun burn and it was a great way to end a fantastic week. I should also mention that on the Wednesday we got snow!!! One local said they hadn’t had snow in seven years, although another said it had only been two. Regardless, snow is a rare occurrence so even the locals were taking pictures. Of course we went swimming outside while it was snowing, which was a lot of fun and definitely not something many people can say they’ve done! Another thing we did that I really enjoyed was hiking up to the Romero Pools. This required hiking up a mountain to find these pools of water which of course were basically melted snow at the time so were absolutely freezing. I was too chicken to go in, although I got my feet wet. Some of the more brave men in the group went right in and submerged themselves. Seeing their reactions I have no regrets about staying dry. Back in Canada it took several days to recover from the week of heavy training although I am happy to say that I am back into full swing again now. I am even training full-time with the varsity swim team! And I ran for 25 minutes today!!